"He is a moral agent who is capable of performing moral actions; and an action is rendered moral by two circumstances, - that it is voluntary, - and that it has respect to some rule while determines it to be good or evil."
Richard Watson, Theological Institutes: A View of the Evidences, Doctrines, Morals, and Institutions of Christianity
“As I tarried within, I found that Masonry began to open before me as ever a profounder and profounder study. I consulted some of its great authors, and they gave me at least the clue with which I could threat its mazes; they placed in my hands the plummet with which, sailing out upon its ocean, I could sound its depths; for the views which I shall soon present to you are by no means original discoveries of mine. I found that what, in the ritual of Masonry, had seemed to me frivolous was richly laden with meaning; the shadowy shapes came out of their mist. Until at last, impressed with awe at the wondrous harmony of all the parts of the structure, at its majesty as a whole, and at a certain reserved strength which I recognized in it, I felt that I stood within a structure reared on earth by no less than the hand of God. For God’s constructive hand is not alone to be seen in the church; it is to be seen in governments, in machinery, in systems of thought, and in the organization of nations and civilizations. And, finally, I felt sure that if there were brethren in whose minds our beloved Masonry took the place of the church, that they misconceived her great design; that they failed to recognize the thoughts that were within her as she spoke; that the fault was not hers, but theirs.”
Excerpt from "Oration by the Rev. Ferdinand C. Ewer on the Relationship Between Masonry & Christianity" 1862.
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| Samuel Seabury (1729-1796) |
